MIT students pull prank on conference. "In a victory for pranksters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a bunch of computer-generated gibberish masquerading as an academic paper has been accepted at a scientific conference." The paper's title? "Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy."
posted by adrober
on Apr 14, 2005 -
24 comments
Bono's commencement address to U.Penn. "The world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for you to hammer it into shape.... That's what this degree of yours is, a blunt instrument. So go forth and build something with it."
[via Ed]
posted by rory
on Jun 2, 2004 -
46 comments
HR 3077 - "unprecedented federally mandated intrusion into the content and conduct of university-based area studies programmes."
"There is a great deal at stake for American higher education and academic freedom. If HR 3077 becomes law - the Senate will review the bill next - it will create a board that monitors how closely universities reflect government policy. Since the legislation assumes that any flaw lies 'with the experts, not the policy', the government could be given the power to introduce politically sympathetic voices into the academic mainstream and to reshape the boundaries of academic inquiry. Institutional resistance would presumably be punished by the withdrawal of funds, which would be extremely damaging to Middle East centres especially."
you didn't have reason to call your congressperson tomorrow? you do now. frightening.
via the excellent
openbrackets.com
posted by specialk420
on Apr 16, 2004 -
67 comments
The Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild began in 1992 when two students of philosophy found their inner creativity in the midst of a dwindling academic job market. As it turned out, fulfilling gift giving needs proved to be almost as satisfying as probing eternal questions. They offer such items as "Freudian Slippers", "Nietzsche's Will to Power Bars", "Brainy Beanies", and "Dorothy Parker Martini Glasses".
posted by ewagoner
on Aug 11, 2003 -
18 comments
From the faculty at Salahaddin University in Kurdistan: "We as academic staff for the region's biggest Universities attended by different nations including Kurds, Turkman, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Arabs condemn this terrible threat towards our achievements and legitimate rights and express our complete refusal to any Turkish military intervention into the region's territory and affairs."
posted by Artifice_Eternity
on Mar 3, 2003 -
3 comments
Michigan: Land of Alternative energy? "DTE Energy [Detroit Edison]
said Monday it has a deal to build and test a hydrogen system capable of generating more than 15,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. The $3-million test project, funded by DTE and the U.S. Department of Energy, is to be operational in 2005. " Wayne State University is also
jumping on the bandwagon. What, if anything, is your town doing (or claiming it
will do)?
posted by PinkStainlessTail
on Sep 24, 2002 -
15 comments
I just
read that
MIT will be offering free education via it's
OpenCourseWare project (starting September 30th). This makes me very happy. Are there any other universities that offer similar services?
posted by Rattmouth
on Sep 22, 2002 -
16 comments
Reverse discrimination? Kathleen Carter, who is white, says that when she became chairman of the education department at historically black Delaware State University in 1995, she was told that she was usurping blacks' right to govern themselves and that whites in the department were trying to make blacks look bad. via Fark
posted by Rastafari
on Mar 22, 2002 -
16 comments
Lisa Gier King - 'clearly willing and consensual sexual intercourse'
'Yahraus has consistently maintained that his sexual relations with King were consensual, a view shared by the police, the state attorney's office and the court'
or institutional
misogyny?
Difficult to
comment without seeing the film. Will releasing this film help either
case?
Hard to find anything online from the alternative viewpoint
posted by asok
on Jan 30, 2002 -
4 comments
University campus communities are a logical place to give and receive support. Blood drives, counseling, vigils are occurring almost universally. Many university departments are sponsoring programs and panel discussions for the public on terrorism: a sort of rough draft of history. (See
Princeton,
Yale,
JHU, and some with whom I have personal connection:
UCSD (no annoucement online yet),
Penn.)
posted by rschram
on Sep 14, 2001 -
2 comments
A glimpse into the "Ivory Tower" - The online community at
Swarthmore College is abuzz with reflections, debates, insults and demands for revenge prompted by the recent tragedies. After being physically threatened by a member of my college community after commenting that I thought that the Netherlands was a more "free" nation than the US, I've stopped going to the site myself; however, a look at the forum may demonstrate that such reactionary thought isn't limited to "middle America" or the "unenlightened," as some intellectual snobs/idealists seem to think. (Swarthmore was tied with Amherst as the number one liberal arts college in the country according to
U.S. World and News Report.)
posted by surblimity
on Sep 13, 2001 -
10 comments
Stripper, Reinstated. --
The stripper who posed for Playboy and went on national TV after she was kicked off the Cal State Fullerton cross-country team has been offered the chance to wear a Titan uniform once again.
posted by fooljay
on Jul 2, 2001 -
10 comments
"Why is affirmative action in universities so unpopular when it seems to be working so well? Statistical studies show that the policy has improved racial diversity not only in the classrooms but later in life, in business and the professions, as well, and contributed to improved understanding among races."
New York Times Op-Ed: Race and the Uses of Law. Will the Supreme Court decide that racial diversity is a compelling educational need that justifies affirmative action? Should they?
(Educators are invited to contribute.)
posted by sudama
on Apr 13, 2001 -
35 comments
M.I.T. to give education for free M.I.T. plans on Wednesday to announce a 10-year initiative, apparently the biggest of its kind, that intends to create public Web sites for almost all of its 2,000 courses and to post materials like lecture notes, problem sets, syllabuses, exams, simulations, even video lectures.
NY Times
posted by Brilliantcrank
on Apr 4, 2001 -
13 comments
The market-model university: '...by looking at research on the health impact of tobacco, the "science" behind global warming or breast implants, or the effectiveness of a drug, we can see that it is not unusual for sponsored academics to fudge the data, suppress unfavourable evidence, and otherwise "torture the numbers till they confess"...'
posted by talos
on Mar 15, 2001 -
7 comments
Beaver College has changed its name to the more dignified Arcadia University, after bearing the brunt of countless jokes and having their websites blocked by filtering software. I guess they made the announcement during a surprise student pajama party only to give the late night talk shows one last punchline.
posted by ewagoner
on Nov 20, 2000 -
9 comments
The Supreme Court ruled today that
university student fees may go to controversial groups in order to create a "marketplace of ideas". As a member of a university student funding board (and as a member of "controversial" student groups, i.e. GLBT groups), I've been eagerly awaiting this ruling all semester. The case began in 1996 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where three students challenged the use of mandatory student fees to fund campus organizations that they had politically and idealogically objections to. For the full text of the Supremem Court decision, visit
campusspeech.org.
posted by hit-or-miss
on Mar 22, 2000 -
1 comment
